CRITICAL SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF THE BUK BIJELA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Ecological integrity and the global significance of the Upper Drina River system
From Assoc. Prof. Dr. i. R. Steven Weiss (Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Austria) und DDipl.-Ing. Dr. Kurt Pinter (Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, BOKU University, Vienna, Austria):
Dear colleagues,
The Upper Drina Basin is one of Europe’s most vital and intact river systems!
A draft EIA for the Buk Bijela hydropower project has now been released, and it seriously underestimates the project’s ecological impacts. As stated in an evaluation prepared by Prof. Steven Weiss:
“The Buk Bijela Project, with its large dimensions, hydropeaking operation, and extensive off-site engineering measures represents the worst possible type of hydropower exploitation imaginable —resulting in severe and pervasive ecological degradation of the upper Drina catchment, including likely extirpation of rheophilic species, like Hucho hucho.”
Full Report:
We summarized these results, along with recommendations in the attached Critical Scientific Review to promote rigorous, evidence-based scientific assessment of this project in the Upper Drina River, one of the last near-natural, ecologically functional river networks in the Danube catchment.
To support this document, we kindly ask you to
- sign the Critical Scientific Review by March 4 at 12:00 (noon) through this form
- share it with colleagues and professional networks
Thank you for adding your voice to this effort.
With appreciation,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. i. R. Steven Weiss
Institute of Biology
University of Graz, Austria
DDipl.-Ing. Dr. Kurt Pinter
Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management
BOKU University, Vienna, Austria
KEY MESSAGES
(from Full Report)
The Drina catchment upstream of the Lim River confluence, including its tributaries Tara, Sutjeska, and Ćehotina, represents a unique aquatic core habitat within the Danube basin. The hydrological and biological connectivity of this system is crucial to ensuring the long-term viability of sensitive and endangered fish populations, particularly the Danube salmon (Hucho hucho). Preserving the ecological integrity of this unique freshwater system is of utmost importance. Due to its near-pristine hydro-morphology and largely undisturbed connectivity, we consider the Upper Drina Basin a regional conservation priority and a centrepiece in promoting the global survival of the Hucho hucho. Any support for further hydropower development in the Upper Drina River system contradicts the principles of sustainable water management. Specifically, the Buk Bijela Hydropower Plant (BBHP) project will have an enormous ecological impact on the upper Drina River ecosystem, including the long-term sustainability of species such as Hucho hucho. The proposed BBHP and its 2025 Draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) represent an unacceptable threat to this habitat.
The EIA is fundamentally flawed and scientifically insufficient; it trivialises the devastating effects of hydropeaking operations and incorrectly dismisses the biological requirements of the Hucho hucho. The project fails to account for the cumulative, transboundary impacts on the UNESCO-protected Tara River and the broader Drina cascade, including the downstream Foča and Paunci dams. Any support for hydropower expansion in this basin contradicts the principles of sustainable water management and relies on an assessment that masks the high probability of localised species extinction.
We, the undersigned members of the scientific community, therefore, call for an immediate halt to all hydropower expansion in the Upper Drina and its tributaries. The construction of additional hydropower plants would cause irreversible damage to the native fish fauna and would likely drive the last wild populations of Hucho hucho to extinction. Conservation action must prioritise maintaining the existing ecological functionality of this pristine system rather than relying on the proven failure of postimpact restoration.
Background photo: © Erhard Kraus, Source: Full Report